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halfamoonTitle: Her Husband, The Beast
Fandom: Beauty and the Beast
Author: Apache Firecat
Dedicated To: To my own Beast, King, and Valentine, my beloved J <3 <3 <3
Characters: Beast/Belle, mentioned Maurice/Mrs. Potts, hinted Lumiere/Miss France
Rating: PG-13/T
Summary: She will always love him all the same, no matter his form.
Word Count: 1,076
Written For: Half A Moon Day 14: Celebrations, 100 Ships 8. Mint, and Fannish 50 #26
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission.
It was the perfect time to celebrate, and the perfect day! The sky could not be any clearer, more beautiful, or bluer, and Belle was singing when she pulled the dusty, heavy curtains which, even after all this time, her husband still insisted on keeping drawn shut to keep the villagers or passers-by from being encouraged to peek within their home. She didn't care that it was a palace; that was not what made the grand place so much more wonderful than the little cottage in which she'd been born. Her beloved and all their friends, whom she still refused to call their subjects, were what made this draft, vast place into an actually splendid home.
She could understand her Prince's reluctance to allowing the villagers into their lives. After all, they had tried to kill him and lock her father up, and when they had fought back, none of the villagers had shown any hesitancy in fighting them, even little Chip, Missus Potts, and Miss France. Why, to hear Miss France and Lumiere tell the tale, when the goons had realized that the feather duster was an enchanted female, they had taken greater pleasure in removing her feathers until Lumiere had literally burned their butts!
But she wasn't letting the villagers into their home by opening the curtains. She was letting the sunshine in, and the coming Spring. She was quickly forced to realize, however, that she should have enlisted help when tugging on the last end of the curtain led her to slip off of the ladder's rung. Her husband was there, however, as he'd been since first coming into her life, catching her with human strength but animallike grace.
She gazed up into his handsome face as he held her, remembering another, equally beautiful if vastly different face, and slowly raised a hand to stroke his smooth skin. "Do you ever miss it?" he asked softly, leaning into her touch.
She blinked in surprise, her brown eyes becoming even bigger. She knew what he meant, but she chose to play dumb rather than risk hurting him. "Miss what?"
"The Beast," he said without pause. "I was stronger, quicker, more agile..."
"You're perfectly agile," she said with a smile. "You weren't even in the room when I fell, and you still caught me before I could hit the floor."
A grin tugged at his handsome lips. There might have been things about the Beast she missed, but she loved her husband all the same and always would. Besides, he had always been the Beast, and she certainly didn't miss getting a mouth full of fur every time she kissed him, as she leaned in and did now. They kissed for a good long minute, tongues dueling sweetly, before the Prince lifted his head from hers. "So," he asked, inclining his still dark though lighter and smaller head toward the windows, "the curtains?"
"It's a beautiful Valentine's Day," she said, her lips drawing down into a pout. "Must we shut out all the sunshine?"
"No, but you pulled them open in the wrong room."
She frowned. "Whatever do you mean?"
"As you said, my Queen," he spoke smoothly, gently correcting the way Belle still thought of them both (as only herself and her Prince as opposed to the King and Queen of the land), "it is a beautiful Valentine's Day. Why waste it in the library?"
"Oh!" she exclaimed.
"Oh, come now," he insisted, whirling her around while not giving her the slightest opportunity to remove herself from his loving embrace, "Cogsworth can surely bring you any books you may desire while Missus Potts' children will be keeping us in tea and cakes all afternoon."
"Where's Missus Potts?"
There was a twinkle in his beautiful, blue eyes, but he did not answer at first, instead grasping that opportunity to move her from the library and back toward the master chambers. It was only when her brown eyes began to narrow at him that he admitted softly, "Away, out to the village, with your father."
To his surprise, and relief, Belle actually giggled. "They are growing closer, aren't they?"
"Yes, they are! We may yet have a second wedding on our hands!"
"That would be grand!"
"So you wouldn't mind if MIssus Potts was to become your mother?"
"She'll never become my Mother," Belle spoke gently, "but she makes my father happy, and I'm glad to see him happy. I'm glad to see them both happy."
He squeezed her, gently and lovingly. "That was the second thing I noticed about you," he quietly confessed, still steadily moving them both back toward their bed.
"What?" she asked, confusion drawing her beautiful face downwards.
"Your heart. You have the biggest heart I've ever known."
She tilted her head to one side as she so often did when studying something that intrigued her. He grinned. "What was the first?" she asked.
"Your bravery," he answered without pause. "You so quickly gave yourself for your father."
"Yes, and look at what I gained from doing so!"
"This whole place."
"You," she said, lovingly cupping his handsome face in her tender hands, "my Prince, my King, my Beast, my love."
"I am no longer one of those things."
"Oh, just wait until your anger gets the better of you again! You were always the Beast, darling. You always will be, but just as when you were covered with fur, you're no less a man for it, and you'll always be the man I love!" She heard the crackling of fire as he swept her back into their room and noticed a tray of her favorite little, mint cakes near the bed, as well as a stack of books with her favorite romance on top, but none of that mattered right now for she was in the arms of her beloved husband, being laid down with the same careful gentility he'd possessed as the Beast. They were one and the same, and she'd always love him nevertheless no matter what form he possessed. He was her forever mate, and she was his, and perhaps, she thought, as she returned him kiss for kiss, it was a good thing he didn't like the villagers any more than she ever had for they might never have met otherwise. This was going to be the best Valentine's Day ever, Belle knew, even better than their first as a wedded couple, as her husband surrounded her.
The End
Fandom: Beauty and the Beast
Author: Apache Firecat
Dedicated To: To my own Beast, King, and Valentine, my beloved J <3 <3 <3
Characters: Beast/Belle, mentioned Maurice/Mrs. Potts, hinted Lumiere/Miss France
Rating: PG-13/T
Summary: She will always love him all the same, no matter his form.
Word Count: 1,076
Written For: Half A Moon Day 14: Celebrations, 100 Ships 8. Mint, and Fannish 50 #26
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission.
It was the perfect time to celebrate, and the perfect day! The sky could not be any clearer, more beautiful, or bluer, and Belle was singing when she pulled the dusty, heavy curtains which, even after all this time, her husband still insisted on keeping drawn shut to keep the villagers or passers-by from being encouraged to peek within their home. She didn't care that it was a palace; that was not what made the grand place so much more wonderful than the little cottage in which she'd been born. Her beloved and all their friends, whom she still refused to call their subjects, were what made this draft, vast place into an actually splendid home.
She could understand her Prince's reluctance to allowing the villagers into their lives. After all, they had tried to kill him and lock her father up, and when they had fought back, none of the villagers had shown any hesitancy in fighting them, even little Chip, Missus Potts, and Miss France. Why, to hear Miss France and Lumiere tell the tale, when the goons had realized that the feather duster was an enchanted female, they had taken greater pleasure in removing her feathers until Lumiere had literally burned their butts!
But she wasn't letting the villagers into their home by opening the curtains. She was letting the sunshine in, and the coming Spring. She was quickly forced to realize, however, that she should have enlisted help when tugging on the last end of the curtain led her to slip off of the ladder's rung. Her husband was there, however, as he'd been since first coming into her life, catching her with human strength but animallike grace.
She gazed up into his handsome face as he held her, remembering another, equally beautiful if vastly different face, and slowly raised a hand to stroke his smooth skin. "Do you ever miss it?" he asked softly, leaning into her touch.
She blinked in surprise, her brown eyes becoming even bigger. She knew what he meant, but she chose to play dumb rather than risk hurting him. "Miss what?"
"The Beast," he said without pause. "I was stronger, quicker, more agile..."
"You're perfectly agile," she said with a smile. "You weren't even in the room when I fell, and you still caught me before I could hit the floor."
A grin tugged at his handsome lips. There might have been things about the Beast she missed, but she loved her husband all the same and always would. Besides, he had always been the Beast, and she certainly didn't miss getting a mouth full of fur every time she kissed him, as she leaned in and did now. They kissed for a good long minute, tongues dueling sweetly, before the Prince lifted his head from hers. "So," he asked, inclining his still dark though lighter and smaller head toward the windows, "the curtains?"
"It's a beautiful Valentine's Day," she said, her lips drawing down into a pout. "Must we shut out all the sunshine?"
"No, but you pulled them open in the wrong room."
She frowned. "Whatever do you mean?"
"As you said, my Queen," he spoke smoothly, gently correcting the way Belle still thought of them both (as only herself and her Prince as opposed to the King and Queen of the land), "it is a beautiful Valentine's Day. Why waste it in the library?"
"Oh!" she exclaimed.
"Oh, come now," he insisted, whirling her around while not giving her the slightest opportunity to remove herself from his loving embrace, "Cogsworth can surely bring you any books you may desire while Missus Potts' children will be keeping us in tea and cakes all afternoon."
"Where's Missus Potts?"
There was a twinkle in his beautiful, blue eyes, but he did not answer at first, instead grasping that opportunity to move her from the library and back toward the master chambers. It was only when her brown eyes began to narrow at him that he admitted softly, "Away, out to the village, with your father."
To his surprise, and relief, Belle actually giggled. "They are growing closer, aren't they?"
"Yes, they are! We may yet have a second wedding on our hands!"
"That would be grand!"
"So you wouldn't mind if MIssus Potts was to become your mother?"
"She'll never become my Mother," Belle spoke gently, "but she makes my father happy, and I'm glad to see him happy. I'm glad to see them both happy."
He squeezed her, gently and lovingly. "That was the second thing I noticed about you," he quietly confessed, still steadily moving them both back toward their bed.
"What?" she asked, confusion drawing her beautiful face downwards.
"Your heart. You have the biggest heart I've ever known."
She tilted her head to one side as she so often did when studying something that intrigued her. He grinned. "What was the first?" she asked.
"Your bravery," he answered without pause. "You so quickly gave yourself for your father."
"Yes, and look at what I gained from doing so!"
"This whole place."
"You," she said, lovingly cupping his handsome face in her tender hands, "my Prince, my King, my Beast, my love."
"I am no longer one of those things."
"Oh, just wait until your anger gets the better of you again! You were always the Beast, darling. You always will be, but just as when you were covered with fur, you're no less a man for it, and you'll always be the man I love!" She heard the crackling of fire as he swept her back into their room and noticed a tray of her favorite little, mint cakes near the bed, as well as a stack of books with her favorite romance on top, but none of that mattered right now for she was in the arms of her beloved husband, being laid down with the same careful gentility he'd possessed as the Beast. They were one and the same, and she'd always love him nevertheless no matter what form he possessed. He was her forever mate, and she was his, and perhaps, she thought, as she returned him kiss for kiss, it was a good thing he didn't like the villagers any more than she ever had for they might never have met otherwise. This was going to be the best Valentine's Day ever, Belle knew, even better than their first as a wedded couple, as her husband surrounded her.
The End
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Date: 2023-02-16 10:32 pm (UTC)